MAM
Dheeraj Sinha provides insights into Indian consumers mind and wallet
MUMABI: Today’s India is seeing things it has never seen before – medals in Olympics, cheerleaders in cricket, kissing scenes on national television, fairness creams for men, agricultural tips on SMS and marriages arranged on the Internet. There is a cultural shift that is happening with time, said Bates Asia chief strategy officer Dheeraj Sinha who spoke at Shopper and Consumer Insights Forum here.
Sinha is author of the book ‘Consumer India-Inside the Mind and Wallet’. At the forum, he talked about changing India. He pointed out some cultural shifts happening in the society. According to him, there is a change in morality which is happening through the Bollywood eye. What is shown in Bollywood or advertisements is what is happening in and shaping real life. Earlier when people were bothered about society more, the movies showed those values; today when people are more concerned about what they want in life without bothering about society, films and advertisements are showing that.
He felt that the mindset of the consumer is changing. He is living more of Kshatriya kind of life. Indians are living out with a warrior kind of feeling, of getting what they want.
“The fact that Big Bazzar and other retailers are successful is because in India shopping is like an event. In a context where everything is changing, all brands in India should remember that staying attached to the foundation would help them. Dabur has a huge market and has products like Chyawanprash. This shows that brands should stand for tradition and package themselves in that way because there is a space in the market. Reiterate the value that India has given us,” he said.
According to him, the country is young but there are no youth brands. Being young is an easy way for brands to succeed. Virgin Mobile ads during IPL last year were learnings for the industry. “TV legitimates many things. Earlier when there was a kissing scene shown in movies, it used to be a big issue. But now even television shows that and people have accepted it. Also, abuses in beep form are used on Indian television today. They are considered to be cool,” he added.
Sinha noted that Indian consumers buy into a ‘proven success’ rather than ‘niche experiments’. People have the tendency to follow what others do. Whenever anything big happens, it goes viral because people want to have the same experience and don’t want to be left out.
When Docomo launched in India, it came out with a tariff that wasn’t being provided by any other network. They played with the leadership values and changed the paradigm. So, it’s essential for brands to scale up and do something that the competitors are not doing.
Youth is not the only market. There are other people in India too. But people like Ratan Tata, Vijay Mallya, Shobha De, Javed Akhtar have found their way of change.
Also, today the ‘bottom of the Pyramid’ wants to be ‘top in statuses’. People hesitate in buying Nano because that will show others that they can’t afford it and will question their status.
Sinha concluded by saying that Indians have progressed more than India has. China’s growth is policy-led but India’s growth is people-led.
Brands
YES Bank hands the keys to SBI veteran Vinay Tonse as it bets on a new era
Former SBI managing director appointed as YES Bank’s new MD and CEO
MUMBAI: YES Bank is done rebuilding. Now it wants to grow. The private sector lender has appointed Vinay Muralidhar Tonse as managing director and chief executive officer-designate, with RBI approval secured and a start date of April 6, 2026 confirmed. The three-year term signals the bank’s intent to shift gears from crisis recovery to full-throttle expansion.
Tonse, 60, is no stranger to scale. Most recently managing director at State Bank of India, he oversaw a retail book of roughly $800bn in deposits and advances, one of the largest in the country. Before that, he ran SBI Mutual Fund from August 2020 to December 2022, a stint that saw assets under management surge from Rs 4.32 lakh crore to Rs 7.32 lakh crore across market cycles. Add stints in Singapore and four years leading SBI’s overseas operations in Osaka, and the incoming chief arrives with a genuinely global CV.
His academic grounding is equally solid: a commerce degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru, and a master’s in commerce from Bangalore University.
The appointment follows an extensive search and evaluation process by the bank’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee. NRC chairperson Nandita Gurjar said the committee unanimously backed Tonse, citing his leadership track record, governance credentials and ability to drive the bank’s next phase of transformation.
Non-executive chairman Rama Subramaniam Gandhi was unequivocal. “I am certain that Vinay Tonse, with his vast experience as a senior banker, will propel YES Bank to its next phase of growth,” Gandhi said, adding that the bank remains focused on strengthening its retail and corporate banking franchises and expanding its branch network.
Rajeev Kannan, non-executive director and senior executive at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the bank’s largest shareholder, said Tonse’s experience across retail, corporate banking, global markets and asset management positioned him well to lead the lender. SMBC said it looks forward to working with Tonse and the board as YES Bank pursues its ambition of becoming a top-tier private sector lender anchored in strong governance and sustainable growth.
Tonse succeeds Prashant Kumar, who took the helm in March 2020 when YES Bank was in freefall following a severe financial crisis, and spent six years painstakingly stabilising the institution, rebuilding governance and restoring operational scale. Gandhi was generous: “The bank remains indebted to Prashant Kumar, who is responsible for much of what a strong financial powerhouse YES Bank is today.”
Tonse, for his part, struck a purposeful note. “Together with the board and my colleagues, I remain deeply committed to creating long-term value for all our stakeholders,” he said, pledging to build on Kumar’s foundation guided by his personal motto: Make A Difference.
Beyond the balance sheet, Tonse played cricket at college and club level and represented Karnataka in archery at the national championships — sports he credits with teaching him teamwork, situational leadership, discipline and focus. In quieter moments, he reaches for retro Kannada music, classic Hindi songs, and the crooning of Engelbert Humperdinck, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar.
YES Bank has its steady-handed rebuilder in Kumar to thank for survival. Now it has a scale-obsessed growth banker at the wheel. The next chapter starts April 6.
